2014-5 NBA Season Thread: We Are North American Ballerz

[C's]

Pelicans up 20 on the Spurs. They are not :censored:ing around here.

By the way, the red uniform is EASILY their best look.

[dfwabel]

Looking more recently since expansion and the college-aged kids have diluted the league and given bad teams a chance to rebound quicker, here are a few examples that the Sixers would use:

-- The 07-08 Sonics finished 20-62, moved to OKC and finished 23-59 in 08-09. After that, they won 50, 55, 47 (of 66), 60 and 59*, then they fell back to the middle of the pack this year because of injuries

-- The 07-08 and 08-09 Clippers finished with 23 and 19 wins respectively. After that, they won 29, 32, 40 (of 66), 56, 57 and 56

-- The 06-07 through 08-09 Grizzlies finished with 22, 22 and 24 wins. After that, they won 40, 46, 41 (of 66), 56, 50 and 54*

-- The 10-11 and 11-12 Raptors finished with 22 and 23 (of 66). After that, they won 34, 48 and 48*

-- Prior to the last three seasons where the Warriors have won 47, 51 and 66*, they only won 29, 26, 36 and 23 (of 66)

* +1 if they win tonight

On the other hand, there's Charlotte, Minnesota, Orlando and Sacramento, all of whom are making the rebuilding thing look bad

SEA/OKC: Drafted Durant and Westbrook

LAC: Drafted Blke Griffin

TOR: Drafted DeRozen

GSW: Drafted Curry and Thompson

Those guys make buckets. The Sixers do not have a player on the current who can get buckets, they have a guy who leads the team in scoring, because someone has to.

MEM is the outlier in team development because of the acquisitions of Gason, Z-Bo, Tony Allen and Jeff Green. And they also fired Lionel Hollins and basically didn't want Dave Joerger to return in the 2014 offseason.

MEM is a bit of the

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'd like to see the Spurs hang on to the 2 seed, but I'd rather see the Pelicans make the playoffs. Anthony Davis may be the next great NBA player, and it's cool to see him in postseason.

[DS729]

Looking more recently since expansion and the college-aged kids have diluted the league and given bad teams a chance to rebound quicker, here are a few examples that the Sixers would use:

-- The 07-08 Sonics finished 20-62, moved to OKC and finished 23-59 in 08-09. After that, they won 50, 55, 47 (of 66), 60 and 59*, then they fell back to the middle of the pack this year because of injuries

-- The 07-08 and 08-09 Clippers finished with 23 and 19 wins respectively. After that, they won 29, 32, 40 (of 66), 56, 57 and 56

-- The 06-07 through 08-09 Grizzlies finished with 22, 22 and 24 wins. After that, they won 40, 46, 41 (of 66), 56, 50 and 54*

-- The 10-11 and 11-12 Raptors finished with 22 and 23 (of 66). After that, they won 34, 48 and 48*

-- Prior to the last three seasons where the Warriors have won 47, 51 and 66*, they only won 29, 26, 36 and 23 (of 66)

* +1 if they win tonight

On the other hand, there's Charlotte, Minnesota, Orlando and Sacramento, all of whom are making the rebuilding thing look bad

Not saying they're great at it, but lumping Orlando in with the ugly stepsisters just isn't fair, give them at least another year or two, although it doesn't really look good for them. And the Spurs are only down 5 and have plenty of time to crush our dreams.

[B-Rich]

More than pleasantly surprised with Pelicans win over Spurs for last playoff berth.

[DaRadniz29]

Just awaiting the completion of the Pacers/Grizzlies game. Scenarios:

Pacers win:

Eastern

- Pacers 8th seed, faces Atlanta.

Western:

- Spurs to 5th, host Portland

- Memphis to 6th, will play Clippers

Grizzlies win:

Eastern:

-Brooklyn to 8th seed, faces Atlanta.

Western:

- Memphis to 5th, will host Portland.

-Spurs to 6th, will play Clippers.

[RyanMcD29]

I spent 20 minutes on that and I feel proud of that.

[Nyk33]

I spent 20 minutes on that and I feel proud of that.

It's a mother:censored:ing miracle.

[BigEd76]

The draft lottery is now set:

1 Minnesota

2 New York

3 Philadelphia

4 LA Lakers

5 Orlando

6 Sacramento

7 Denver

8 Detroit

9 Charlotte

10 Miami

11 Indiana/Utah tiebreaker TBD

12 Indiana/Utah tiebreaker TBD

13 Phoenix

14 Oklahoma City

[C's]

I enjoy lottery day way too much.

[dfwabel]

The draft lottery is now set:

1 Minnesota

2 New York

3 Philadelphia

4 LA Lakers

5 Orlando

6 Sacramento

7 Denver

8 Detroit

9 Charlotte

10 Miami

11 Indiana/Utah tiebreaker TBD

12 Indiana/Utah tiebreaker TBD

13 Phoenix

14 Oklahoma City

The LAL pick is top 5 protected, but there is a 17% chance they drop to 6, 7, or 8 and PHL would get the pick.

Yesterday, I talked about how MIA needs to stay at 10, or their pick would go to PHL too.

[Still MIGHTY]

So we might've had to sit through the worst Lakers season ever, another season with Kobe on on injury, AND might lose their first round pick?

Jim Buss needs to find a hobby and Mitch Kupchak might just need a new job. That's asinine.

[Lee Noire]

It's really cool that the Pelicans are in the playoffs this year. It sucks that the Clippers get the Spurs in round 1 because of it.

[dfwabel]

So we might've had to sit through the worst Lakers season ever, another season with Kobe on on injury, AND might lose their first round pick?

Jim Buss needs to find a hobby and Mitch Kupchak might just need a new job. That's asinine.

If the pick is 1-5, they get to keep it.

However, their 2016 1st rould pick would then go to PHL, unless it is in the top 3.

This is the pick which LAL sent to PHX for Steve Nash.

[DaRadniz29]

It's really cool that the Pelicans are in the playoffs this year. It sucks that the Clippers get the Spurs in round 1 because of it.

Well, yeah the Pelicans had a lot to do with it, but had Memphis lost to Indiana, then the Clippers would have played the Grizzlies. Of course, if San Antonio had taken care of business against New Orleans: Spurs host Mavericks, Thunder would have gotten the 8th seed.

Here's the matchups:

Western:

#1 Golden State

#8 New Orleans

#4 Portland

#5 Memphis

#3 LA Clippers

#6 San Antonio

#2 Houston

#7 Dallas

Eastern:

#1 Atlanta

#8 Brooklyn

#4 Toronto

#5 Washington

#3 Chicago

#6 Milwaukee

#2 Cleveland

#7 Boston

[Lights Out]

It's really cool that the Pelicans are in the playoffs this year. It sucks that the Clippers get the Spurs in round 1 because of it.

It really :censored:ing blows that our season's probably over already even after taking care of business down the stretch and moving up to the third seed. Meanwhile, the other three-seed gets to play the .500 Bucks that collapsed down the stretch. I'm in favor of getting rid of divisions and conferences altogether, the current format is has become absurdly unfair to Western Conference teams. Just put the top 16 teams in the playoffs and seed them 1-16, it doesn't need to be that complicated.

[The_Admiral]

It's really cool that the Pelicans are in the playoffs this year. It sucks that the Clippers get the Spurs in round 1 because of it.

It really :censored:ing blows that our season's probably over already even after taking care of business down the stretch and moving up to the third seed. Meanwhile, the other three-seed gets to play the .500 Bucks that collapsed down the stretch. I'm in favor of getting rid of divisions and conferences altogether, the current format is has become absurdly unfair to Western Conference teams. Just put the top 16 teams in the playoffs and seed them 1-16, it doesn't need to be that complicated.

I love Tom Ziller's proposal to have five divisions and no conferences, seeding 1-16.

[2001mark]

I've got Cleveland def Golden State in 7 games.

While the Cavs may be slightly inferior, their road to the Finals will not be nearly as taxing as the Warriors'. LeBron will completely take over all aspects of the Cavs by the semi finals into the Finals. Curry should be MVP & will drag his team fighting to a close game 7.

In an ironic twist, it'll be LeBron's championship experience from Miami that will finally be the x factor for Cleveland's first city title in decades.

Whatever the case, whichever the teams, I think we are set up for a worthy classic Finals this year. It'll also be fun that other than the Spurs, there isn't a legacy team on the slate. LBJ should win but the Cleveland storyline proper is far richer.

As for the Raptors, I see them winning round 1 in 7 games, losing to Atlanta round 2 in 6. At least another building block year not wasted.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

A Spurs title at this point feels more like a nice to have than a need to have. Duncan has matched Kobe's five titles and avenged that terrible finals loss from 2013. It'd be neat to see the Spurs match the six Bulls titles, but a third straight Finals seems like a lot to ask from that team, especially if they have to play the Warriors to get there.

I think GS/Cleveland is the likely Finals, but any combo of Cavs/West could be compelling. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cavs go Fo Fo Fo through the east, even with playoff rookies Love and Irving.

The Cavs and Spurs have been the two best teams over the last two months, but everything changes in the playoffs. It's going to be a really great postseason this year.

[The_Admiral]

Cleveland won't sweep the Bulls. Thibs won't allow it.